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My Awakening Of The Great Indian Tribal Hospitality

An Adivasi girl Sangita at Nahari Hotel, Pangarbari (near Wilson Hills, Gujarat) teaches us the Indian culture and way of welcoming guests!

On 15-Jun-2016, my friend Sanjay Mahant and I visited a scenic hill-station in South Gujarat – Wilson Hills (near Dharampur). We wandered during the noon enjoying the view of the hill-station and chitchatting. We just did not think of the time while experiencing the pleasing wind and nature.

At 3.30 pm, we realised we needed to have lunch and located Nahari Hotel just nearby. We wanted to order for lunch, but it was too late that no hotel (restaurant) in that interior was expected to serve any food. So was the case here.

We met Sangita-ben (the staff, and the owner herself) there. We told her that we were fine with whatever was available to serve us. She replied she could only give some Rice-Daal. We agreed. She said she would serve us after preparing it properly and server it hot, in some time. Meanwhile, she cut two mangoes in pieces and offered us to eat. Sanjay asked if she could add some pickles, and she gladly agreed. All this added up to a full meal for us. We were the happiest persons by the end. The surprise was yet to come.

We asked for the bill and she said it was Rs 50! We asked about the price for the mangoes, and she smilingly replied that it was a gift from her. Both of us were so happy experiencing this mannerism of an Adivasi (tribal), so-called uneducated girl, we were just stunned and speechless. We were so overwhelmed by her gesture of offering free (as such costly) mangoes to unknown guests, we could not tell her anything. We blessed her and prayed for all the best for her. That is all we could do.

Do we (the educated, advanced, and highly mannered people) ever do anything like this? Sangita teaches us a lesson to learn.

After Parsis, Anavils (Anavil Brahmins, અનાવિલ બ્રાહ્મણ ) are the fastest decreasing community. The total population of Anavils around the world does not exceed two lakhs figure and that is also fast reducing day by day. Days are not far, beyond a century or so, when they will have to be seen/found in records, photos and videos. Why?

Because,
- they get married too late,
- many are dying unmarried,
- they wait for the career to be settled before the first (and maybe the only) childbirth.

One of the recent off-bit topics I’ve read, this one book about ‘Mumbai Mafia’ has been the most interesting, well-researched and well-written. Here is an excerpt from Dawood Ibrahim's journey from “Dongri to Dubai”, and the six decades of Mumbai mafia.